The Blond Sage
by Jiraiyathesanin52
Summary: What if Jiraiya had taken Naruto to train when he was 7 years old? How will the story turn out? Read as Naruto becomes the strongest ninja ever known. Strong but not godlike Naruto. Mainly focus on the sage mode as Naruto's power. And Naruto's got a bloodline like ability. Small harem Chapter 1 edited version available.
1. Training trip

**_The Blond Sage_**

**_Author's note:_****_ I know that most of you guys would have lost interest in this story, why? Because I haven't uploaded for so long. Chapter four will be uploaded next year, probably somewhere in the middle of March, give or take a few days. This is just an edited version of the original chapter. the original's writings suck!_**

**_All right guys! This is my first fic so please go easy on me and I'll be honest that my English is not good. I'm writing this fic to increase my writing skills and express my version of Naruto. So on with the fic..._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._**

**_Chapter 1: Training trip!_**

* * *

It was evening; and it appeared that the sun had decided to hide behind the dark clouds that came out like fairies. It started out with small drops, but eventually, the rain began pouring all over Konoha. Amidst all the thunder and lightning that accompanied these violent rains, the image of our favourite blond trying to escape from a group of shinobi, 5 chunin and 2 jonin to be exact could be seen. It was all a mystery to him; why were they chasing him? They began their chase akin to that of a cat-dog one out of the blue. One minute, he was walking pass the squares and then the next, he found himself in that weird situation. He was running alley after alley, square after square...

'Shit, a dead end' Naruto thought as he turned yet another square. He turned round to run again only to find that he was cornered by the set of seven shinobi.

"Why? Why does everyone treat me like this? What did I ever do to earn this treatment? "asked a desperate Naruto. But no matter how much he protested, deep down he knew that they wouldn't listen to him. He was not that stupid, not him. And to say that the village had made him accustomed to his current life would be a gross understatement. The village had done more than that! It had scarred his heart. They never look things from his way, they never listened! And he knew that that time was no different.

"Why, you say? Don't tell me you forgot everything you did to this village, Demon?"yelled one of the chunin.

"But I didn't do anything... " said Naruto. These ninjas were crazy. He was treated like this for as long as he can remember, probably right after he was born, and they made it sound like he had done something horrible. The only things he ever did were pranks and he did that only to peoples who were rude to him.

"You killed my dad! You call that nothing?!" said one of them which were continued by many other shouts.

"Enough talks...today you're gonna die and I'll make sure it's painful..."

With that said, five shurikens came Naruto's way. He tried to dodge them by shifting his body left to right, but a weapon thrown by a chunin, no matter how good a child is, can't dodge it. Two struck him on his right hand and another two on his legs .As Naruto was howling from the immense pain that was coursing through his body, a jonin went through a series of handseals...

"**Fire style: fireball jutsu" **yelled the jonin as he expelled a huge fireball from his mouth.

Naruto put his hands in a cross manner to guard himself. The fire was nearing him, and his heart was also pounding like hell. Naruto yelled out a pained cry as he guarded the red flames. Tears began running down his scarred face and in that painful moment, he couldn't help but wonder who his parents were. Did they love him? Was he really abandoned like they all say? But it was all left unanswered.

He was almost out of energy from running nonstop. There was no way out of this. Almost half of his body was burnt, very badly.

"Not bad kid, but how are you gonna guard this one? **Ninja art: Depths of hell"**. All went black after that, but before darkness consumed him, he saw the blurred figure of a white haired person.

[**Depths of hell** is an A rank genjutsu where the person experience the torture of hell. It's limited to the caster's imagination.]

**_5 hours later:_**

"Hhhaaaahh" groan Naruto as he woke up with a slight stir. He was lying on his plain bed at the corner of his humble apartment. Like usual, he had the urge to get up, mess with people and do other stuffs, however his body told otherwise. It was covered in bandages and hurt like hell. 'Damn, those shinobi are gonna pay one day, just you wait' thought Naruto as he turned his body to his left only to find a man staring at him. The man had paints on his face, like that of war paints, with a forehead protector of the Kanji for oil on it. He had long white hair that went down up to his abdomen and a red overcoat with green shirts inside. A poker face adorned his face and it kind of reminded him of that sick jonin.

"Ah...I see that you're awake" said the man.

"Who are you?"asked Naruto.

"My name is Jiraiya, one of the sanin…"

He then posed into a weird way with a bizarre d face before saying, "and the great sennin of Mount Myouboku" it seems the one who calls himself the great sage cares a lot about first impressions.

"What happened to me?" panicked Naruto as he remembered everything. The shirukens, his burnt body and everything that had happened.

"I saved you from those shinobi."

"How? There were seven of them?" asked Naruto in wonder. Believe it or not, he was stupefied.

"Seven ninjas are nothing to one of the sanins, gaki."Jiraiya said with something in his voice, like a feeling of immense pride.

"Ok, now get to sleep. Tomorrow we're leaving konoha" said Jiraiya.

"What? Why?"

"To train you, of course. Don't you want to become a ninja?"

"Yeah, of course dattebayo" said Naruto as Jiraiya sweat dropped. Naruto wanted to asked some more questions but choose to do the interrogation part later as he was tired. He knew that Jiraiya was strong and he needed that strength, so that he can accomplish his goals.

**_The next morning:_**

Naruto woke up, feeling somewhat relieved from the stress of his earlier body. However, to his surprise, he found that his room was littered with paper. He who never read or write had a curious feeling as he was exposed to a new atmosphere. "Where did all these papers come from?" Picking one up, he started to read.

**_2 minutes later:_**

Jiraiya woke up with a pleased air. "Now that was the most wonderful dream ever!" said Jiraiya perversely. He started looking round before his eyes fell on a passed out Naruto with blood running down his nose.

Jiraiya sighed and roused him "Oi, gaki wake up..."

Naruto bolted out of his state with a startled yell and pointing an accusing finger at the sage, he said "You're a pervert!"

Jiraiya angrily, but somewhat proudly said "Hey I'm not a pervert, I'm a super pervert."

Naruto sweat dropped, but smirked "Whatever, let's get going, Ero-sennin"

"What did you just called me, gaki?" said Jiraiya with a vein popped out of his head.

"I'm all packed. Let's go, shall we?" receiving a nod, he started his journey, however he felt that it would be too uncivil of him to leave without giving one word to his grandpa.

"Shouldn't we go tell Hokage-jiji first?"

"I've already done that. There's no need. It's better that we begin our journey" replied Jiraiya as he remember the conversation he had with Hiruzen.

**_Flashback:_**

"Sensei I'm taking him from this ungrateful village. And train him until he can defend himself from all his enemies as well as his father's" said Jiraiya. Hiruzen took a puff of his (bonk?) and in a calm voice, he spoke...

"I can't allow that Jiraiya. The council will never allow that to happen. And while you may be strong, if the enemy's number is large enough, you can't protect him" said Hiruzen with authority.

"You don't have to worry about that sensei. I can take care of it. I am the famous Toad-sage, remember? No one would dare hurt him." Said Jiraiya somewhat proudly.

"No, and that's final Jiraiya. I know you care for the kid, but right now it's too dangerous for him to leave the village. Remember that he's still a kid, it is not safe for him to leave the village at this age"

Yeah, Hiruzen remained obdurate; but Jiraiya had not been a famous (?) writer for nothing. He knew how to pick his words.

"But I've decided to take him sensei. I can't bear to watch him suffer so much. I am doing this not only for him, but also for Minato. I can't face Minato in the afterlife if I didn't do at least this for him. Sensei, were you able to do anything for him in here? No. This village has left me no choice but to take him." Jiraiya pause for a second and said "I'll take him even if you make me a missing-nin."

Hiruzen's eyes widened at that last part. He knew that he was serious. The village had been weakened extremely after the Kyuubi's attack that it had become nothing but a shell of the once thought to be the strongest village in the elementary nations. If he becomes a missing-nin, there won't be any of the sanin left in the village. And that means less strong shinobi. Besides, he is the only known sennin alive at the moment. Some nations didn't attack konoha just because the toad sennin was still allied to the leaf. So, he had to agree and the council won't say anything to that as Jiraiya was willing to become a missing-nin for the kid. Hiruzen sighed...how troublesome!

'If the village has become a shell of what it once was, then the Hokage has become just a borrowed robe.'

"Okay, but stay safe," said Hiruzen," and I expect Naruto to get some good out of this."

"Goodbye sensei, we'll be leaving tomorrow and believe me he is going to be a complete different person by the time he finishes his training." after that Jiraiya disappear with a sunshin.

**_Flashback ends:_**

Jiraiya was brought out of his thoughts by Naruto's, you know? Loudness, I guess…

"Ero-sennin, before we go I would like to meet somebody"

"Who? Your girlfriend?" the sennin had a teasing smile, nevertheless it was a proud one.

"No..." stuttered a blushed Naruto "It's Iruka sensei"

The pervy sage had a disappointed look. It seems he expected a lot from Naruto.

'Don't worry, you are gonna have lots when we finish your training'

"No, you can't. We are late" said Jiraiya while shaking his head left and right. He might have let him off if he had said it was his girlfriend, but Naruto just had to tell the truth!

"But sensei, he's the only friend I got" protested Naruto.

"We are ending this conversation Naruto."

"Fine" said Naruto somewhat angrily, though having no desire to argue. But also having no intention to listen to him!

As they were walking towards the gate, Naruto suddenly shouted waving at the gate "Hey look ero- sanin, it's Nami from One Piece"

"What! Nami? Where? Where is she?" Jiraiya said as he looked at the gate.

"Look! She just went behind the gate, Ero- sanin"

"Nami-swan! I'm coming" shouted Jiraiya and rushed towards the gate in Sanji-mode with his legs spinning and hearts in his eyes.

"That should take care of that pervert" thought Naruto as he dashed towards the apartment of Iruka Umino.

**_Iruka's apartment:_**

Naruto has been ringing the bell of Iruka's apartment for about 5 minutes, but there is no sign of him anywhere. He has searched the academy, park and anywhere he can think of but cannot find him. "Humph! You just have to be out of doors today, don't you, Iruka sensei?"

And after all that trouble I went through to see him, this happened! Why can't you be at home, Iruka sensei? I Hope ero-sennin can understand why I did that to him. Speaking of ero-sennin, he doesn't look like a bad guy. He treated me differently. 'Guess I should give jiji a visit just to make sure that he's okay'.

**_Hokage office:_**

Hiruzen was facing the most formidable foe of all the kages, paperwork. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork I'm sick of this. When will I ever have some peace of mind? I've been doing this shit for fifty damn long years. It is high time that I retire, but who'll be worthy enough to be the next kage? The leaf will need a strong kage to lead its weakened military. In the past, it was the most fearsome village in the elemental world. All that glory, all that fame vanished when the kyuubi took away the leaf's Yondaime. 'Damn Kyuubi'! All the kages of konoha had been the strongest of their time, not only in konoha but in all of the elementary nations. Some even became legends!

The first, known as the **God** **of Shinobi,** is supposedly the strongest shinobi ever known since the Rikudou [which was considered only a myth]. The second is known as the **God of** **Water** because of his control of water chakra which none rivals. The third is also the famous **Professor **who knows all jutsu. Then, there is the fourth known throughout the elementary nations as the **Yellow Flash** who is the fastest shinobi ever known, even faster than the Raikages.

As Hiruzen was in deep thought of who to choose as his successor, he heard a commotion going on the reception counter.

Naruto was being denied entry to meet the Hokage, again! 'What the hell's wrong with this village? Every time I come here, this keeps happening.'

"What the fuck is wrong with you, old hag?"

"Hokage-sama has no time for demons like you, get outta here before I lose my temper" replied the women harshly.

"What? You dare call me a demon! I will make you call me Naruto-sama someday, believe it" said Naruto just as Hiruzen arrived.

"What's going on here?" he then saw Naruto standing there, "If you were trying to keep Naruto from meeting me, you know the consequences; you will be fired" Hiruzen told the woman.

"No, no, nothing of that sort, jiji! We were discussing something else." cut off Naruto.

"Okay then, come on in Naruto"

'Whew! The brat saved me. But why did he save me? Probably because he wanted me to be nice to him. Like that'll ever happen, a demon is a demon and nothing else.'

"Don't have the wrong impression that I saved you so that you'll become my ally and support me."

Naruto said, "Besides, that sounds pretty lame. I only did that so you won't get away when I become the Hokage and when that happens, you will call me Naruto-sama. See ya"

Before the woman had a chance to counter, Naruto was already gone. 'Huh! Demon brat.'

"Jiji, I wanted to ask you if it's okay if I go with Ero-sennin. He's not you know, bad, right?"

"Jiraiya is a capable man. It's okay I've already had this talk with him"

"Okay then, I'll get going. Goodbye jiji, and when I return home, be ready to hand over the Hokage mantle"

"I hope so Naruto. Goodbye" With that said Naruto left for his journey.

Truth be told, he felt kind of emotional, however he didn't want his goodbye to be in a melancholy mood. His life was full of sadness and he was sick of it.

**_Village gate:_**

"Have you met Iruka?" asked Jiraiya with a face that promised punishment.

"No, he wasn't at home so I left a letter saying that I shall be away for a training trip." replied Naruto with a pleading face. Naruto decided to change the subject so as to save himself. 'I hope this will work'

"Ero-sennin! Why did you choose me to be your apprentice? Is it because of my awesomeness?" yelled Naruto as he jumped up.

"Awesome? You? Gyahahahaha… more like lameness" laughed Jiraiya before he said with seriousness in his voice "I once train the Yondaime as my personal apprentice; he was the most intelligent, amazing and most importantly, the handsomest of all my students. And you seem to possess this uncanny familiarity about him. That's all the reasons you need to know." silently noting that he was also his Godson.

"Say, ero-sennin," Naruto said voicing his sadness for the third time, to the third person "...do you know who my parents are?" the first being his jiji, Hiruzen and the second, Iruka sensei.

"Sorry Naruto" Jiraiya said with a straight face. He wanted to tell him, but the time was not right. It just wasn't the time to reveal his heritage.

"It's okay...I mean, It's just..."

"Ok, now let's get going, gaki. You're gonna experience hell in this trip as punishment for your earlier trick against me."

"Throw me whatever you want, but I'm never gonna back down. It's my ninja way to never give up. I'll make everyone acknowledge my strength and become the Hokage."

'That's the spirit, gaki. I know that you'll achieve your dream and I'll make sure of it. That's the least I can do for you, Minato.'

"Come on Ero-sanin, what's taking you so long?"

"Coming" said Jiraiya as he ran towards Naruto.

And so, began a new day, new life for Naruto. He had messed up a lot in his life in the village, but now he was gonna start anew.

"Beware world, here I come" Naruto said, his thoughts full of determination. And when he returned again, he was going to make the dwellers of konoha recognize him...

* * *

**_I hope this edited version was up to your taste!_**

**_So, how was it guys? If there are any mistakes in my grammar, please notify me. Next up is Naruto's arrival after a timeskip. And I shall explain things as the story progresses. And also please review. This is my first fanfic so don't make me feel too bad._**

**_See you guys next chapter._**


	2. My first Konoha mission

_**The blonde sage**_

_**A/N: Last chapter I didn't get much review; but for those who reviewed, I give you a big THANK YOU!**_

_**To Kiriko the 22 tails: Hey there! Thanks for your review, truly I appreciate it. And as for your question, 'gaki' means 'brat'. And thanks for pointing out the mistake I made about Dattebayo.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter and oh! don't forget to review![ I know some of you might have gotten sick of the word review, but please remember that you are pointing out the mistakes and helping a fellow writer and possibly making the fic more readable.]**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto!**_

_**Chapter 2: My first Konoha mission!**_

After naruto had left, many things happened to konoha. Danzo Shimura, the old war hawk, wanted konoha's ultimate weapon to be made. The Anbu was there to carry out the assassination missions; the dirty jobs of konoha and other dangerous missions like A and S rank ones. 'Really, it is the strongest military organisation available to Konoha besides my Root, yet it is still not enough' well at least not to him. The military power of Konoha had drastically weakened after the continuous battles of the third great ninja war and the kyuubi attack. And then there was the Uchiha massacre, greatly reducing the already exhausted power of Konoha. So, Danzo suggested that konoha must put the top three graduated students into one team under the strongest available jonin. He knew that hiruzen would never allow that to happen. His old nemesis, the Sandaime would never want to disturb the balance of teams. If the balance was ever to be disturbed, it would mean the increase in the failure rate of missions of the other teams, and sometimes even death. Hiruzen deeply cares for his village as well as every single person living in it regardless of civilians or shinobi, but Danzo doesn't care for that. The only things he cares for is the existence of the village and power. He believed that sacrifices had to be made in order to bring peace to the majority of the village. So he riled up the council to persuade the hokage into doing this and they succeeded. He knew that Hiruzen was getting old and can't face the council like he used to in his prime. 'Hiruzen, you're getting old. You're not worthy enough to be the Hokage anymore. But that matter will have to wait for some time, it's better not to rush things too much'. So, the first ultimate team was formed by sasuke, the rookie of the year; Hanabi, kunoichi of the year and sakura[she's the third only because she's a bookworm] under Hatake Kakashi, the famous copy ninja. Hiashi was very disappointed with hinata and is on the verge of making hanabi the Hyuga heir.

_**Timeskip: 8 Years.**_

It was a cloudless, sunny day. The sun bathed in the trees. The leaves danced in the cold breeze that keeps the temperature mild and pleasant. The scenery presented at the moment was spectacular. Rows of trees with the leaves dancing whenever the gentle wind blows, the green grasses below where the squirrels run and play all day with their hearts content; all in all it was a nice and peaceful day in Konoha. Well it has been peaceful to the peoples ever since Naruto left the village; no more pranks, no more yelling. The civilians believed that Naruto was probably killed by one of the shinobi who bullied him all the time. Well not for long, cause...here comes UZUMAKI NARUTO.

Two figures walk towards the eastern gate of konoha. The taller one was jiraiya with the same outfit before 8 years. The second one had spiky blonde hairs with bangs that goes down upto his chins. Oceanic blue eyes and the three whisker marks on both of his cheeks made his personality even more define. Who could this blonde be? -Naruto? Bingo. Naruto now wears shinobi black pants, a matching black shirt which is left unbutton with fishnet shirt underneath, a konoha protector on his forehead, shinobi sandals and fingerless gloves with metal protectors that contain the konoha symbol. He was now 5'6 feet tall with a well defined slim muscular body. Naruto has finally returned to Konoha.

As the two shinobi neared the gate, Kotetsu asked them without even bothering to look up "State your names with reasons for coming here."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow before saying "Jiraiya of the sanin. Here to conduct researches for my next book."

Naruto facepalmed and said as he stepped forward "Naruto Uzumaki. Here to participate in the chunin exams."

Kotetsu looked up with a blank expression and inspected the two for a moment. With eyes widening, he quickly bowed before apologizing "I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Its okay, it's okay" jiraiya said with a smile of pride.

Kotetsu raised his head and said "The Hokage has been expecting you, Jiraiya-sama" He then turned to Naruto and told him " Naruto welcome back home, the village has quite missed your pranks"

Naruto smiled at the chunin. He was one of the few people in konoha that treated him indifferently "Well, you will be hearing a prank any minute now"

_**Hokage office:**_

Hiruzen was doing the usual chores of a Hokage, paperwork. He was reading through a letter; bringing the brush towards the inkpot and dipping it, he was about to write something when all of a sudden a messenger bird came in flying through the window that was left wide open. It landed on his desk with a letter tied to its back. Hiruzen took the letter, open the seal and began reading it...

_To_

_The hokage,_

_Village hidden in the leaf._

_Hokage-sama; I, the Mizukage; would like to request you to let your shinobi participate on the chunin exam that is to be held at kiri on a month after today. All the other kages have agreed to this. Let's perform the first chunin exam of all the elemental nations. _

_I hope to receive a positive reply from you._

'What the...amazing.. a chunin exam of all the elemental nations' thought Hiruzen truly amazed of the idea. And what's more is that all the other kages have agreed to it. The current mizukage was clever; she did this to create possible alliance for the kiri.

"This is truly a wonderful idea." exclaimed hiruzen before he began to write the reply, a positive reply at that.

And then, for the second time something came through the window; well two people to be more precise. At first, the three in the room didn't say anything; they just kept looking to one another for different reasons. Hiruzen because he didn't recognised the smaller ones at first glance, but then names began to appear on his head as he took the appearance of the blonde. Neruto because he couldn't believe how much Hiruzen had aged; his hairs had gone completely white which was grey with some black streaks, his face was more wrinkled that before. Jiraiya because he had completely forgot the brunette beauty he had come across on the way after seeing hiruzen's old and feeble face. Then, the silence was broken by jiraiya as he cried anime tears and went to a corner of the room with clouds on his head and muttering "Why...? why?"

"Naruto, is that you?" asked Hiruzen as Naruto nodded while saying "The one and only"

"You have grown into quite a young man, I can't even recognised you!" exclaimed Hiruzen truly amazed.

"And you have grown into quite an old man,jiji; I can't even recognised you" laugh Naruto as Hiruzen just smiled.

"Naruto you are here for the chunin exam, right?" said hiruzen

"Yeah, is that okay in my condition?" asked Naruto wearily.

"Jiraiya told me that your level is mid-jonin. If what he says is true, I can send you as a one man team. It should be perfectly fine even if you don't belong to any of the teams but..." trailed Hiruzen.

"But what?" asked Jiraiya joining the conversation.

"But there has been a chance in plan." said Hiruzen as he passed the letter from before to Jiraiya and Naruto.

'Interesting' both of them thought as they finished reading the letter.

"So? Can you handle it Naruto?" asked Hiruzen already expecting a yes.

"Can I handle it? Are you serious jiji? This will be piece of cake, there's nothing I can't handle. Hell, I'll even win the tournament. That's a promise" Hiruzen smiled at that.

"If that's all jiji, I'll be going; I wanna meet Iruka-sensei. I didn't even get to meet him that day I left Konoha. I missed him so much." said Naruto before disappearing with a leaf shunshin leaving the room in a mess.

"What strong shunshin, the leaves resonated and swirled like a small tornado!" exclaimed the Hokage clearly awed.

"NARUTTOOO..! You did that on purpose, didn't you?" yelled Jiraiya.

"What? He did that on purpose?"

"Yes sensei; now if you will excuse me, I shall also be going. I need to go to the hot spring" said Jiraiya perversely before disappearing with the same shunshin, if not stronger than Naruto's leaving the room even messier.

"Jiraiyaaaaaaa...Narutoooo...!" Hiruzen, the ever so collected and calm person, shouted for the first time; his voice echoing throughout Konoha. Now the arrival of Naruto has been officially announced with his prank of the year.

_**~Unknown location~**_

"Hey, let me go!" said konohamaru as he was being held by a suna genin.

"Is that suppose to be the way people say 'sorry for bumping you' in konoha?" said kankuro as he smirk. He had war paints on his face and wore a black dress that covers his entire body, only his face was revealed. Oh, and there was also a thing wrapped in bandages on his back.

An echoing sound suddenly interrupted them.

"What was that? Konoha sure is strange." said Kankuro.

'That sounded like jiji' thought Konohamaru.

"Kankuro, let the kid go" ordered a blonde girl about Naruto's age.

"Ah, come on Temari. Nothing's gonna happen." Kankuro said.

The now identified Temari has short Blonde hair [I'm getting tired of this; just imagine Temari's dress and appearance as in the Canon, the chunin exam dress]

"Kankuro, release the kid before Garra comes. You don't want to face him" said Temari seriously.

"Garra won't be coming for a while, sis. It's okay."

Sakura, the pink haired Kunoichi from team seven, step forward and yelled.. "Let the kid go; and what are you suna genins doing here? Even if the leaf and suna are allies, that doesn't mean that a shinobi from suna can enter the leaf freely."

"Hey, we're not trespassing. We are here to participate in the chunin exam" seeing that Sakura was puzzled from hearing her, Temari continued "Don't tell me that you know about the chunin exam"

"We already knew about it" Hanabi stated. 'at least I knew about it' Hanabi'; she knew about it only because her father told her and her sister that one of them should win the exam.

"You knew about it Hanabi?" Sakura asked Hanabi in disbelief that she hadn't told about it to her and Sasuke.

"Huh, that's Hanabi-sama for you and of course I knew about; I am a hyuuga and I have the all seeing eyes." stated Hanabi arrogantly.

"The all seeing eyes? Are you joking? I ..." Kankuro was cut off by Hanabi

"Look out make up boy, a stone's coming your way" said Hanabi clearly bored.

Sure enough, a stone came towards Kankuro and hit him on his hand freeing konohamaru.

"Ah.. what was that? Who threw that?" yelled Kankuro

Then they all heard a 'hn' and looked up towards the tree that was besides the road. There, they saw Sasuke sitting on a branched smirking.

"You can also come out, the one behind the tree" Hanabi said as she smirk arrogantly.

A read head without eyebrows came out from behind the tree with a face that seemed excited for a fight. He had a gourd attach to his back and the kanji for love on his forehead.

"You are quite interesting; what's your name?" He pointed towards Hanabi and Sasuke as he asked the question.

Gaara received Hanabi Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha.

'Who's this guy? I couldn't even sense him and yet Hanabi sensed him; what have I been doing all these years?' thought Sasuke as he tightened his fist.

"Kankuro, what do you think you were doing?"

Kankuro tried to blamed the konoha nins but was cut off by Gaara telling him that he would kill him if he did it again.

"Make up boy, I told you my eyes can see anyone and everything" Hanabi boasted smirking.

"Not quite..." Gaara said

"What do you mean?" Hanabi said as she glared at him

"You haven't sensed him yet..."

"Ho, look at that, someone can actually sensed me; I am impressed" said Naruto as he appeared there with his leaf shunshin covering the area with leaves.

"Who are you?" all of them except Gaara said. Hanabi was furious, she had always been the best in sensing because of her eyes; she was angry that someone can hide from her and that too, a genin.

"Naruto nee-san, is that you?" suddenly Konohamaru yelled and ran towards Naruto.

Naruto nodded and hugged Konohamaru. "Yeah, I'm back."

'Naruto? Wait that's the kid mom told me not to associate a long time ago; so this is the guy. He's cute' Sakura thought

'Who the hell is this Naruto guy?' both Hanabi and Sasuke thought.

"Whoever he is, I like him; he has taught the Hyuuga brat a lesson" said Kankuro to Temari, smirking only to find that she was staring at Naruto with a dint of red on her cheeks. "You like him, don't you?"

"Shut up kankuro"

"My name is Naruto and I'm a Konoha Genin; that's all you need to know" said Naruto. He turned towards the suna genins and said "So you guys are here for the chunin exam?"

Receiving nods from Kankuro and Temari, he continued "You better leave then"

"Are you saying that we are not strong enough" said Kankuro

"The exams' been postponed; it will be held at kiri after one month."

"What? Why?" all of them except Gaara, Sasuke and Hanabi yelled but the three also looked clearly surprise.

Naruto continued ignoring their questions "The interesting part is that in that chunin exam, all...the...elemental nations...will paticipate" there was a long silence after that...

The arrival of the Jonin sensei of the suna team broke the silence. He told them that they need to leave. When asked why, he told them all about the change in the chunin exam confirming Naruto's earlier statement.

Just as they were about to leaf, Gaara told Naruto "My name is Sabaku no Gaara; what's your full name?"

Naruto smiled and said "Uzumaki Naruto"

"I'll be waiting for you in Kiri" with that said, the suna team left.

"Ah.. I'm late. I need to go now Konohamaru, see you latter" Naruto left without even waiting for a reply and konohamaru also left

After naruto left, everyone began to leave on different directions all thinking of the mysterious Naruto and the change in the chunin exams.

'Interesting' Sasuke and Hanabi thought while Sakura thought 'Now the chunin exam will be much harder. But I think Kakashi sensei won't allow us to enter. I mean we're not strong enough, well at least I'm not. Sasuke-kun and Hanabi are strong, but I'm not' Sakura released a sigh 'I only hope that I don't become a bother to them'

_**Ninja Academy:**_

Iruka was closing the academy front door; the day was finally coming to an end, all those yelling and shouting has made him exhausted. Even if it was tiring to be an academy teacher, he didn't felt any regret of being one. He loved the children. And because he became a teacher, he got to meet Naruto. It's been 6 long years he hadn't seen him. As he was thinking about Naruto, he murmured unconsciously "Naruto, Where are you?"

"I'm right here Iruka sensei." Iruka suddenly jumped back hearing the voice. The voice felt familiar. As he looked at the source of the voice, tears welled up in his eyes, tears of happiness.. "Naruto is that you?"

Receiving a nod, Iruka ran and hugged Naruto "It is you. Oh, how I have missed you!"

"It's been so long, Iruka sensei." Naruto said.

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled. Iruka laugh and said "Same as always, eh? Let me treat you to Ichiraku Ramen, it must have been so long since you ate your favourite ramen."

At that Naruto's face brighten up tenfold and he pumped his fist in the air and yelled "Yatta! Thanks Iruka sensei"

'Naruto, you haven't changed a bit' Iruka smiled and thought. As they made their way to Ichiraku's, Naruto told Iruka all about his journey and his participation in the chunin exams.

_**Ichiraku ramen:**_

As Naruto and Iruka entered the stall, Teuchi said "Welcome to Ichiraku ramen" he then looked up "Oh, it's you Iruka. What can I get for you today?" He then saw Naruto "Who is your friend here Iruka?"

"Don't tell me that you forgot me, old man?" Naruto said smirking

"Sorry but I don't remembe..." he stopped cutting the vegetables and stayed still as he saw the whisker marks, the blonde hairs.. "...Naruto?"

"NARUTO! AYAME, NARUTO HAS RETURNED, COME OUT" yelled Teuchi.

"Naruto, when did you return? Why did you left Konoha?..." which was continued by many other questions. Ayame also entered the room rushing and hugged Naruto tightly "Why did you left us, baka" [ In this fic Ayame is only 7 months older than Naruto.]

"I left another letter for you at Iruka sensei's. Didn't he give you the letter?" asked Naruto looking at Iruka and then at Ayame.

"He gave it to me but why did you left Konoha? You could have trained at Konoha instead?"

"It's Ero-sen... I mean Jiraiya sensei. He can't stay in Konoha for even 1 year let alone 6! So... I had to leave" Naruto said feeling guilty.

"It's okay,Naruto-kun; but promise me that you won't ever leave me again" Ayame said

"I promise you Ayame chan, I won't ever leave you again" said Naruto as he hugged Ayame.

"Okay who wants Ramen? It's free for today" Teuchi said breaking the hug. Both Naruto and Ayame were blushing red just like a tomato.

That day, they spent the night chatting.

_**Next Day (Hokage office):**_

Team seven was promised by Hiruzen a B rank mission and were waiting for hiruzen to finish his meeting with the council concerning the matter of the change of the chunin exam. After about 20 minutes, Hiruzen came out and motioned them to enter his office.

"Team seven led by Hatake Kakashi, I now will give you your first B rank mission. You shall be protecting a bridge builder from bandits until he finished his bridge in wave country...but since this is your first B rank mission and the mission might encounter shinobi also, I shall add another person on this mission"

"We are more than enough for this mission, we don't need another person to help us" Sasuke said

"Sasuke, you don't give opinions to the Hokage. The Hokage's words are final" Kakashi said as he closed his book aka icha icha paradise

"It's okay Kakashi" Hiruzen said smiling.

"Hokage sama, I also agree with Sasuke" said Hanabi confident in her abilities.

"I have already told the person to come, sorry Sasuke-kun, Hanabi-chan" hiruzen said.

"hn" both of them grunted. Sakura thought looking at Sasuke and Hanabi 'I wonder if they are related somehow'

"Call in the Bridge builder Tazuna" ordered Hiruzen at one of his employees

An old drunk man entered the room. He was wearing a straw hat, a sake bottle on his right hand. "Are these kids my escorts? I asked for real ninjas, not kids playing ninjas."

"We are more than enough, shitty old man" said both Sasuke and Hanabi, again, slightly irritated.

Hiruzen told the old man that even though they were kids, they are the strongest genin team of their year and they also got kakashi, a jonin. "There's no need to worry, you will have a wonderful journey with them."

Hanabi, Sasuke and Sakura was a bit offended by that; they consider themselves the strongest genin team of the leaf, even if Sakura was weaker than most genins they got Sasuke and Hanabi, right?

"Tazuna-san, if you are ready, we can leave for wave now..." Kakashi said

"Kakashi, aren't you forgetting something?" Hiruzen said smiling, a smile that promise pain if he forgot.

"What am I...oh! The additional team member, who is he?" Kakashi said feeling ashamed of his memory

"He is..." Hiruzen was cut off

"I'm not late, right?" said Naruto as he flew through the window.

"...Naruto Uzumaki" finished Hiruzen making Kakashi's eyes widened and all the others shock.

_**How was it guys? All reviews are welcome**_

_**See ya next chap.**_


	3. Wave mission part 1

_**The Blonde Sage**_

_**A/N: Thanks a bunch for the reviews guys, really, I appreciate it. And the timeskip should have been 8 years, not 6 years; sorry for that. Now then, I'm so sorry for the late update. But I have been so busy these past months and apparently, I'll be busy this whole year. So, I might be late to update the coming chapters, but one thing, I will never abandon this story, that's for sure. And there's another thing for the late update. Considering that I didn't get much reviews, I figured out that I need to take things slow and steady, write the story in more details for character development and longer. Unfortunately, I couldn't get this chapter much long, only 4k+. In future, I'll try to make it much longer. Oh, and is anyone out there willing to 'beta' my story?**_

_**And sorry again for the late update. ( that is if you were waiting for it) Now, enjoy the chapter!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto wouldn't be a deadlast for so long in the Anime. I mean he is the male protagonist of the story...**_

_**Chapter 3: Wave mission part -1**_

"...Naruto Uzumaki" finished Hiruzen making Kakashi's eyes widened and all the others shock.

'Naruto?' the same thought went through entire team 7's mind, probably for different reasons. Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing, let alone seeing; the Sandaime meant to say that the ever hyperactive, cunning, clumsy, troublesome kid and the number one prankster of the village was the young man standing in front of him. Now, he looks much more reliable than what he look like years ago. He couldn't believe it, he heard from Hiruzen that Naruto had left the leaf to train with Jiraiya so that he could become the awesome ninja he always wanted to be. There was just so much difference between his former self and this boy that he couldn't believe the teen was Naruto, but on closer inspection, he could see the trademark whisker like scars or birthmarks on both cheeks. And he knew of only one person who had that marks. Added to that was the unruly blond hairs and the mesmerizing oceanic blue eyes, he swore he could see the image of Minato at that moment. 'Minato-sensei!' Kakashi went wide eyes at that, but as soon as it came it was gone. As much as he wishes that the person in front of him was Minato, he knew that Minato had died at the Kyuubi incident, he even saw his corpse with his own eyes, scratch that he didn't see his body with his 'eyes', but with 'eye'. The other one was covered. So that means that the person in front of him was none other than Naruto, son of his late sensei. The other genins present there also look clearly surprised. I mean who wouldn't be? After the incident that happened just the day before. Hanabi was still frustrated, so was Sasuke that they couldn't sense him the previous day. He just came out of nowhere and stole the spotlight like they were just stand-bys waiting' for him to show up. They have been working, training like there is no tomorrow as long as they can remember so that they can become a perfect shinobi. Apparently, they haven't heard or don't heed the quote that goes 'Nobody's perfect'. Sakura was jealous of the boy. Sasuke was paying so much attention to the teen, the only thought going through her was 'If only I was the centre of the attention Sasuke-kun is giving him' and another one 'How dare he acted Sasuke-kun's line yesterday, Sasuke-kun should be the coolest there is, shanara'(Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I forgot if it was shanara or something else, just leave a review if it is wrong). The only one who was being usual was Tazuna. He was drinking his bottle of sake casually, like nothing was happening.

An uncomfortable silence took place in the office. Kakashi had finally composed himself from his shock but was staring at the blond warily. Hiruzen had enough of the silence. He raised his right hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. Everyone was snapped out of their thoughts as Hiruzen cleared his throat.

"Team seven, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen said extending his hand towards Naruto before continuing "Naruto, this is Hanabi Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and their jonin sensei, Kakashi Hatake. Meet team seven." Hiruzen introduced them. 'A Hyuuga and an Uchiha? Do they really work as a team?' thought Naruto as he gave a low chuckle. He wanted to laugh out loud at that one, but decided against it because of the circumstances he was in; he didn't want to leave a bad impression of him considering he just met them. But as much as he tried, he couldn't prevent the small chuckle that left his mouth. Sakura and Tazuna, well let's forget Tazuna as he's still in a half conscious drunken state, was dumbfounded 'Why did he feel amuse of their team?', but that's not the case for the others present. Kakashi and Hiruzen, in fact they also had chuckled when the team was announced; Hanabi and Sasuke glared at the blond. It was common knowledge to all ninjas of the leaf that the Hyuuga and Uchiha had a rivalry among them, and there were no exceptions. Naruto felt uncomfortable at the glare so the typical 'change the subject' thing was on the line

"Kakashi? So he's the copy ninja?" Naruto stated more of a question than a statement. Seeing as Hiruzen nodded, Naruto gave the one- eyed jonin a slight nod. Naruto look at each of them, taking in their features. Kakashi had his whole face covered except for his two eyes with a cloth mask; his headband was tied on his forehead and was slightly tilted so that it covered his left eye which left only his right black eye exposed. He had gravity defying grey hair which looks extremely cool if you take it into account. He had deep blue shinobi pants, a matching blue shirt with the konoha chunin vest, fingerless handgloves with metal covers. He had an uninterested look on his eyes as if waiting anxiously for the introduction to finish and get to some actions.

As Naruto shifted his vision from Kakashi to the next one, he found himself looking at a pink haired kunoichi which look rather strong as a civilian but as a shinobi, only one word came out, pathetic. She looked like she just skipped breakfast for a diet, that too for the Uchiha as she kept glancing at the emo teen. 'So, she's a fangirl! Huh! Ero-sanin would kill to have that kind' smirked Naruto remembering his sensei. Naruto rolled his eyes to the next person only to find a glare sent his way. 'Huh, what's his problem?' thought Naruto as he inspected his features. The emo looked quite strong for a genin; he had charcoal black eyes, black emo hairs, a konoha headband tied on his forehead. He was wearing a blue shirt with white arm warmers (I guess), a matching white shorts with shinobi sandals. By the way he was glaring at Naruto, he looked like he had some grudge against him. Shrugging it off, Naruto looked at the last person. At first glance, she looked like a sweet little girl; but as Naruto look at her eyes, he could see that she had the same scowl as the Uchiha, if not more stronger. She had rather long bluish hairs that were left freely, pale skin colour and the Hyuuga trademark eyes. A nice figure with a beautiful face. She was wearing a grey jacket with matching grey shinobi pants.

After examining their faces, Naruto came to know that the Hyuuga and the Uchiha were spoiled brats who obviously had hard lives. They had some great pain hidden in those eyes, Naruto being the specialist in detecting hard lives knew it. The pinkie was a fangirl who had no hard time in her life; she had yet to see how cruel life can be. The jonin, eh! No clue since almost the whole of his face was covered; but then again, on second thought he looked kinda lazy. It was written in his eyes, but there was also something in his eyes that he couldn't quite placed what it meant.

"So jiji, why did you called me here?"Naruto asked as he turned to Hiruzen. Hiruzen sighed as he had to explain the mission once again. Really troublesome

"Naruto, given that you have nothing to do before the chunin exams, I thought that I would send you to a mission. You shall be going to Wave for a mission with Team 7. The task is simply to protect the Bridge builder, Tazuna, from bandits before he finishes the bridge he is currently building there. It is a B rank mission so you shall not find any serious troubles. The team captain will be Kakashi. Am I clear?" seeing as Naruto nodded, Hiruzen continued "Okay then, that's all. Dismiss!" All of them slightly bowed, but not like the bow that goes all the way down like ninety degrees, (they are ninjas. They are always alert) except Tazuna (he's drunk) before leaving the room. As they were walking down the stairs, Kakashi told them to get packed and meet at the gate in 20 minutes.

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Naruto was walking through the market, towards the village gate where people goes in and out of the village. People didn't recognise him, for the moment at least, so he was treated nicely when he went to a store to buy something. If only he was born a normal boy, had a normal life! He wanted nothing more than that. He wanted a normal life the other kids had with their parents. God was so selfish to him. But then again, he didn't believe in the existence of God. During his travels with Jiraiya, he came across many religions. Christian, Buddhism, Sikh, Hindu, you name it; he knew almost all the religions that exist. In all the religions he had known, he keep hearing that God is kind, forgiving, He looks upon all humans with equal eyes, and blah blah blah. Some says 'He has the power to do anything and everything, this world is like a drama of the Gods, a movie; so don't do anything bad, He will be mad at you.' As if, if He really had the power to do anything He wouldn't make him and the other jinchurikis suffer so much! He is kind and He treats all equally. So, he believes in atheism. God does not exist! That or he is not so forgiving or kind as people thought him to be. He does not treat people equally. 'If he did, why do I had to suffer so much. And I'm sure there are people out there who felt pain even greater than mine. It's a mystery and it'll always remain a mystery. What the heck is a God anyway? If he has power, is he a god? Then shinobi are gods' these thoughts were going in his minds.

"Mom, I'm off to play with my friends. Make some noodles for me when I come back" yelled a kid about 9 years old as he ran out of a house.

"Be careful! Don't be too late" the mother replied back. Of course, the kid didn't listen to it.

Naruto felt nostalgia as he saw the scene. Who was his mother? Did she love him? What would it felt like to have a mother? These were questions that were left unanswered all his life.

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_**Village Gate:**_

It has been twenty minutes. All of them had arrived at the gate five minutes ago except for the most important person of the team, the captain! "Ah! Kakashi sensei is late again" the pink haired genin of team seven was frustrated. Why did they get the most unpunctuality jonin in the history of konoha as their sensei? Sakura was standing in front of the gate with her hands in the air in a comical way yelling curses at the absent jonin. Tazuna was sitting beside Sakura drinking his sake that he brought on his way to the gate of Konoha. Sasuke was standing beside a wall of the gate leaning on it with his hands in his pockets and head lowered. Hanabi was sitting on a branch of a tree near the gate with one of her legs hanging and a hand on the knee of her other leg. Currently, she was staring at Naruto, who was lying under the shadow of another tree, with calculative eyes. Naruto was looking at the sky, staring at the clouds. He was enjoying the gentle gust of wind; he felt amazingly calm under the shade of the tree and the breeze that blew on the surroundings of Konoha. He knew that the Hyuuga was staring at him. He sighed. Why did this always happen to him? He stood up, beating his shirts to get rid of dust and looked at Sakura only to find her yelling. He sighed yet again and look to the others present and then at Hanabi. Hanabi suddenly turned her head to the side as Naruto looked at her. She got nervous as she saw Naruto come towards her. Soon enough he came and sits at the foot of the tree she was sitting on. He sighed, look towards Sakura and said "Is she always like that? Always yelling and shouting?" She didn't know how to respond to that, so she just replied a 'yes'. She was never good in situations like this.

This time Naruto turned towards her "So, your name is Hanabi Hyuuga, right?" Hanabi didn't say anything, she just nodded. She got rid of her nervousness and reverted back to her usual self, the arrogant, spoiled, stoic and cold self. She didn't want to be weak and according to her father being nervous was a sign of weakness. She had to become stronger than her sister, stronger than any Hyuuga. And one day, she will become the head of the family.

"What do you want?" the tone was so cold, Naruto almost choke his throat in surprised at the change of her tone. One minute she was so nervous and then the next minute she was as cold as a bloody killer. Naruto just smile and told her "Nothing, I just want to talk to you while waiting for your sensei. Oh boy, he sure is late" Hanabi just snarled and said "There is nothing to tal..." on second thought she could reconsider that, he was a mystery to all of them. Normally, she wouldn't talk to anyone about anything but this boy; she was curious of him, there was just something different that rubbed her about him. After all, she couldn't sense him before so she was interested.

"Where are you from? I have never seen you before so you couldn't be from Konoha." Naruto just lied down, relaxed himself before saying "No, I'm from Konoha. I was born here. I just left to train eight years ago. I was about to finish my last training, but then jiji told me of the upcoming chunin exams. So, here I am."

"Training? Who train..." but before Hanabi could finish the questioned, Sakura called them telling that Kakashi had arrived. Naruto stood up stretching his arms and Hanabi jumped down from the branched. Both of them calmly walked towards Kakashi with Naruto in the front and Hanabi tailing behind him.

Kakashi looked bored as always. But as they were standing in front of him, he smiled at them and said teasingly "What were you two love birds chatting about there?" Naruto turned a little red and coughed in his hands so as to control his nervousness before saying "Wh..what? No way, we were just talking to pass the time" Kakashi was glad to hear that from Naruto. 'At least he's not cold and he still has the normal effect like a normal teen.' But his gladness did not live long as he saw Hanabi was not having any effect like Naruto, always emotionless 'She's always like this *sigh*. What have Hiashi been doing to you, Hanabi? I have done everything I could to open you up, and this team doesn't seem to help you. And there's Sasuke, though he's a little better than you are. I had Obito to help me out of that state, but it seems there's not someone like him in this team, someone loud' Kakashi chuckled remembering his long lost friend.

"Alright team, since you have all arrived-" Naruto cut off Kakashi "It should be along the line- since 'we' have all arrived or yeah maybe even 'I' instead of 'we'" Kakashi ignored Naruto's remark "As I was saying, before Naruto kindly interrupted me-" again "But I was just speaking the truth, Kakashi- sempai". Kakashi just continued, ignoring Naruto "As you have all known, this mission is to protect Tazuna-san from bandits. So there is no need to worry for serious troubles..." as he said this, Tazuna seems to flinch a little, but only Kakashi and Naruto noticed it "but don't be too sure, the ninja world is full of surprises. Always keep your guards up; don't forget the ninja code, look underneath the underneath." All of them nodded. "Now let's go!"

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They have been walking through the forest towards the direction of Wave Country for at least 2 hours. They could have use the standard ninja way of travelling, jumping from branch to branch with chakra enhanced legs, but too bad that the mission was an escort mission, that too, a normal bridge builder civilian who can't use chakra. So, they are struck to walking for the time being. The journey was relatively quiet, as quite as it can be if you don't take into account of the lone pink haired girl of team seven. Sakura, like always was annoying Sasuke to go out on a date with her and the next minute, she would turn her attention to Kakashi and complain that she was tired. But of course it always ended with Kakashi messing with her by saying things like 'Did you say something, Sakura?' and Sakura would just settle with muttering curses, wishing that he would just die by her hand but like everyone knows that was impossible with her level. Naruto was walking casually, with hands behinds his head which was slightly tilted so that his face was facing the sky, staring the clouds and singing a song, his voice a little low so that his subordinates won't hear him, at least that's what he thought, but everyone heard him alright and they were impressed; he was good.

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('Futatsu no kodou to akai tsumi' by 'On/Off', Romaji lyrics, which I don't own)

Akaku akaku akaku yurete

Yume no yume no hate e hanarerarenai...

Mou nando mo akiramete wa

Oshikorosu tabi...

Ikiba no nai kanjou ga me o samashiteku

Kegare no nai sono hohoemi

Zankoku na hodo tooi

Sonzai da to wakaru yo

Ienai kizu kokoro mushibamu dake na no ni

Yami no... ima mo...

Omoi o osaekirenai...

Akaku akaku akaku yurete

Yume no yume no hate e

Deatte shimatta unmei ga mawaridasu

Dare mo dare mo shinarai himitsu

Ochite ochite ochite

Mou modorenai tsumi o kizande mo kitto...

Kodoko no fuchi arukinagara sukuwareta ita

Donna toki mo kawaranai riaru na hitomi

Demo hikari-

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Naruto was singing, about reaching halfway when he was suddenly interrupted by Kakashi which earned a slight glare from Sakura and Tazuna "So Naruto how was your training?"

Naruto sighed, he hated it when people interrupt him while he was singing, but Kakashi was his superior so he can't do anything reckless. "Well, it was...wait! How do you know I was on a training trip, I never tell you, did I? And I don't think we have met before today."

Kakashi pondered his words for a moment before starting to laugh. Wait, did Kakashi just laugh? How long has it been since he had last laughed, a genuine laugh? Sure Kakashi laugh, smirk, smile but those were his fake mask emotions (a fake mask above another mask that covers his face) he developed over the years after each and every pain he felt right after his father, the White Fang, died. Team seven was surprised at the turn of events, Kakashi have never, and by never they mean like all their days of acquaintances, smiled a true smile before, let alone laugh. They have never seen him laughed that kind before, the kind of laugh that came without the knowledge of the very person laughing. But Naruto doesn't know Kakashi keeps a fake mask on all the time so he was not surprised, instead he just raised an eyebrow signalling Kakashi to continue...

"What's so funny?" Naruto said slightly irritated.

"Nothing, nothing! It's just that it's so funny that you don't recognised me considering I was almost all the time with you when you were here..." seeing that Naruto had a questioning look, he continued "Well, it's no surprise that you don't recognised me since we didn't talk quite often...okay, I always ignore you, but I was always there observing you, well not really observing but protecting would be the right word, from the shadows so that you won't get in trouble. I will give you a hint of who I am though. I'm 'dog'." Kakashi left the conversation hanging there, and started focusing on their journey. Now team seven have heard many weird things that surprise them, but this was the weirdest thing they have ever heard which surprised them by far. Team seven stood their grounds as they heard the last statement, not just them but also Naruto and Tazuna. They stopped walking.

"Oh, and Naruto your singing was great" Kakashi turned one last time before walking. All the others agree on that one though none of them voiced it. Naruto just gave a thank you, no time to be humble.

The group just stood there in silence until Tazuna, still under the influence of sake, broke it...

"What? You're a dog? What kind of ninja is a dog?" they all sweatdropped at that. The small group shrugged it off and started to walk again but Naruto was still deep in thought 'A dog? Is there any person who was close to me related to dogs? The one time when the villagers beating me were stopped by...no, no, that guy had a bowl hair cut and his clothes were all green. And the other time when the Uchiha with a scar...no, definitely not Kakashi! A person with a facemask! A person with a facemask! A person with a facemask' as Naruto was too focus on trying to find a person with a facemask who was someway related to dogs from his long list of persons he had met, he failed to sensed the small puddle of water with a faint amount of chakra on the ground he stepped on. That was big mistake. As Naruto stepped out of the puddle of water that was only as deep as the lower portion of his shoes, after about ten steps, two figures rose up from the of them were covered in cloaks, exposing only their faces. However, their mouths were also masked by what looked like the masks worn when there was poison in the air or something along those lines. A gauntlet with chains was attached on both of them, each of them have one armed on one of their hands. Considering the weapons and the chains, the duo was like a tag team, like they were made to battle as a pair.

Piercing black eyes darted to and fro among the members of the groups, looking for its first prey. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and finally the eyes landed on Kakashi, the captain. First go for the strongest! That was the tactics of the 'demon brothers'. The pair hurried towards Kakashi, running as fast as their legs could carry them, ready to pulverise him. Like lightning to the eyes of the untrained, they appeared on both sides of Kakashi and shot out their chains. With a 'tap', they fixed the shot chains on their respective gauntlets. The action resulted in Kakashi being tied around several times by the chains leaving him immoveable. The restrained captain tried to move around, but was rendered futile. Locking their eyes on each others, the brothers "...the first..." pulled the chains with all their might which resulted in shredding the copy cat's body in pieces "...one down"

"Kakashi-sensei!" cried out a petrified Sakura, her voice shaking along with her body. Sasuke and Hanabi were sweating bullets, their bodies frozen at the sight presented. Tazuna was lying on the ground in a sitting position on the floor with hands in front of his mouth, scared out of his shit. Panic surfaced on all of their faces. This was their first B rank mission. Meanwhile, Naruto was thoughtfully looking at his fingers, counting them and walking down the road as if nothing was rolling. He stopped walking. Looking at his back, he took a look at his comrades "Is everything alright guys? Are we taking a break?" that seemed to break the tension in the air. Apparently, Naruto was not aware of the situation as he was too focused on Kakaski's identity. Walking back to his comrades' side and sitting next to Tazuna, he stretch his arms and saw the brothers "hey, who are those two? Woodcutters?"

_**That's it for now. And I hope that I will get much review this time. Seriously guys, I got only 5 reviews while I get 28 above follows and favourites! I have seen some authors get about 10 reviews and only 5+ favourites. So please guys, review!**_

_**See you next chap.**_


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